


Experimental

by tomanonuniverse



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Concussions, Developing Friendships, Disability, Don't copy to another site, Enemies to Friends, Fainting, Gen, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, Hacking, Hanzo Shimada Needs a Hug, Hanzo Shimada has Issues, Hanzo Shimada has Prosthetic Legs, Hypothermia, Missions Gone Wrong, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Self-Destruction, Self-Hatred, Self-Indulgent, Self-Sacrifice, Self-Worth Issues, Team, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Teamwork, temporary paralysis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23355265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomanonuniverse/pseuds/tomanonuniverse
Summary: Then the Japanese archer is running out into the crossfire. “Hanzo, don’t you fucking dare—!” Genji shouts at him, still motionless within Mercy’s arms. “Hanzo, stop! Anija!”His shouts, too, fall on deaf ears, because Hanzo is running and then leaping off the roof of the building the dropship was extracting them from, swan diving into the waters below, the resounding splash of his body hitting the water only seconds apart from when Fareeha fell into the icy abyss herself.
Relationships: Fareeha "Pharah" Amari & Hanzo Shimada
Comments: 3
Kudos: 153





	Experimental

**Author's Note:**

> self-indulgent? self-indulgent. i love handsoap chihuahua and im gonna give him the friends he deserves and what about it?

With everything that had happened in this mission, Hanzo could safely: they were  _ beyond _ fucked. 

They knew this new “strategy” of Winston’s was risky— more than risky: it was doomed to fail. But Winston couldn’t be sighted in public so often, not unless they wanted their little illegal Overwatch recall to be shut down immediately, so they didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The unofficial Strike Commander was forced to send in someone in his stead on missions, which had gone about as well as one would have expected.

Currently, Hanzo, Angela, Genji, Aleksandra, and an unconscious Brigitte were all trapped within the same building, surrounded by countless Talon reinforcements from all directions. They really couldn’t have chosen a worse mission to try out the Winston-swap, considering the facts that a) this mission turned out to be a giant trap, and b) Fareeha, who was substituting for Winston, was the only one separated from the rest of the team. 

Angela purses her lips and presses a hand to the intercom in her ear. “Winston, we can’t stay here a minute longer than we have to,” she says urgently. “Brigitte has a possible concussion and Genji’s external limb functions have been hacked and it’s only a matter of time before his internal systems start to fail.  _ We need immediate evac.” _

The archer of the bunch inhales sharply upon hearing the words. He knows his brother is looking at him from underneath the visor, which is why he turns his head away first before scowling. Had he been more careful, had he seen that  _ Sombra  _ woman before she’d managed to get so close, Genji wouldn’t have been compromised.

“I’m  _ trying  _ to get there as fast as I can, Angie!” Lena’s voice explodes through their ears, full of anxiety yet attempting to remain optimistic. “It’s hard to drive a dropship when there’s Talon goons crawling all over the area! I don’t know how much closer I can get than this... I think you might have to make a break for it!”

“We  _ can’t,”  _ Aleksandra hisses. “I cannot shield all of us on the way to the ship and that Talon sniper is still out there. We cannot expose ourselves to her without a distraction.”

“Leave it to me then,” Fareeha responds calmly.

Not even a second later does Ana Amari’s voice breach the intercoms. “Fareeha, do  _ not  _ engage. Widowmaker can and will shoot you down if you try to challenge her. She doesn’t  _ hesitate,”  _ the elder woman reminds her daughter sternly. “Stay behind cover. There  _ must  _ be another way to get you all out of there without having to use anyone as bait.”

The Egyptian soldier clicks her tongue. “And there probably is, but we don’t have  _ time.”  _ She counters, knowing good and well her mother will be unable to reply to that. “You heard Angela, Genji and Brigitte need medical attention. It’s now or never. On my signal, all of you get moving to the dropship. Ready?  _ Go!” _

Whatever protests the older Amari yells fall on deaf ears as Fareeha propels herself into the air, pointing her rocket launcher towards the blue-skinned sniper. Her throat tightens for a moment when she finds Widowmaker already scoped on her, as if she  _ expected  _ her to do something as reckless as she was, and just barely manages to dodge the bullet she shoots. 

Or so she thinks, as one of her thrusters suddenly begins to sputter weakly. She grits her teeth, realizing Widowmaker wasn’t aiming for her at all, but for her Raptora suit’s jets. As she launches as many rockets at the sniper as she can, forcing her out of position again and again, she lets her eyes stray just for a moment to check on her teammates, trying to see whether they made it to the dropship or not. 

It turns out to be a fatal mistake as Widowmaker lands another shot on the same damaged jet thruster, causing it to completely go out. “Oh, shit,” Fareeha murmurs to herself, already off balance midair.  _ “I’m hit!  _ Raptora suit failing; going down!” She exclaims, having half a mind to inform her teammates of her situation.

_ “Fareeha!”  _ Ana calls desperately, worry lacing her voice like never before. She’d just reunited with her daughter. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. 

Angela gasps from the dropship, because they did reach it after all, nearly dropping Genji as she covers her mouth with one of her hands. “She’s falling towards the water!” She voices her thought in horror. “The Raptora suit is too heavy— she’ll sink to the bottom like a rock!”

For a moment, the team is glancing at one another, all trying to think of desperate ways to save their fallen friend. Aleksandra glances at the still out-cold Lindholm in her arms then at the falling Fareeha, knowing she would never make it in time were she to attempt bubbling her to lessen the force of the fall. 

Then the Japanese archer is running out into the crossfire.  _ “Hanzo, don’t you fucking  _ **_dare—!”_ ** Genji shouts at him, still motionless within Mercy’s arms. “Hanzo, stop!  _ Anija!” _

His shouts, too, fall on deaf ears, because Hanzo is running and then leaping off the roof of the building the dropship was extracting them from, swan diving into the waters below, the resounding splash of his body hitting the water only seconds apart from when Fareeha fell into the icy abyss herself.

He can’t see very well under the water, obviously, but even less so, considering the night sky above them. But he still kicks his prosthetics and aggressively sways his arms against the water, trying to reach the sinking Helix soldier before she got too far for him to be able to get her. With every moment the water’s pressure increased above him, he felt his lungs burn and his eyes sting with their own fluids, yet he still swam. 

The Russian waters were cold, a fact that did nothing to help him in his endeavour. He extends his hand to the blurry form before him, hoping Fareeha was at least still conscious to reach out and grab his arm. He nearly cries out in relief when he feels her hand grip at his forearm like her life depended on it and immediately begins to swim upwards, dragging her along with him. 

He’s aware she’s much lighter than he expected her to be and deduced that she’d stripped herself of her Raptora suit as she was sinking, fully intending to swim back up by herself, a feat he deemed almost impossible as he attempted to do so himself. The temperature was getting to him and the adrenaline was wearing off but they were  _ almost there.  _

Hanzo doesn’t even realize he’d breached the surface of the water until he hears Fareeha gasp for air from next to him, giving him his que to inhale too. His lungs still felt devoid of any oxygen, he could barely feel his fingers, but he was well aware that Lena had circled the dropship around and lowered it to the water so that they could climb up onto the hunk of metal. 

He’s well aware it’s not a good sign that he’s already disoriented and confused, but that’s about all he’s aware of. He sees Angela reach down and haul Fareeha onto the dropship, yet he stares at Agent Zaryanova’s extended arms in bewilderment, wondering why she was gesturing for him to come closer. Did she want to give him a hug or something?

Strong hands slip under his arms and yank him out of the water, shocking him silent for a moment. He can hear a familiar voice calling out to him in his mother language and while he knows that there’s only one logical answer as to who that was, seeing as no one else but his brother and him spoke Japanese on the ship, he still couldn’t piece together just who was talking to him, or even what they were saying.

There are hands on his face, tapping him every time his eyelids drooped. It was almost frustrating, and Hanzo would swat the offending limbs away if he could move. Eventually, though, he lost the feeling in his face, and not even the violent taps could keep him awake. His head lulled, his chin hit his chest, and he passed out right where he sat. 

The grogginess that came with waking up after having slept for longer than four hours was not something he was familiar with in the slightest, so he couldn’t help but be just the tiniest but alarmed when he tried to open his eyes and found himself too exhausted to do so. It wasn’t like when he was too tired to face the day. He felt  _ weak,  _ more so than usual.

_ “Anija?”  _ Genji’s voice calls from next to him. He feels two plated hands grab one of his, holding it as though it’d disappear if their grip wasn’t tight enough.  _ “Hanzo? Brother? Can you hear me?” _

Hanzo elegantly groans in response, too puzzled to articulate actual words. His eyelids finally managed to split the smallest of distances and slivers of brown looked at the direction of his brother’s voice. He nearly gets the breath knocked out of him when he realizes that not only are Genji’s visor and faceplate off, but he’s  _ crying.  _

“You absolute  _ moron,”  _ Genji hisses, though it’s not nearly as angry as he tries to make it sound, not with the tears streaming down his scarred cheeks. “You could have  _ died.  _ You  _ almost  _ died. Do you know how long you’ve been out? I thought you’d  _ never  _ wake up. Do you know what that would have done to me? Why would you do something so  _ foolish, _ brother? How could you have  _ possibly  _ thought that through and deemed it a good idea? Do you even remember anything that happened?”

The archer blinks back at him as his memories slowly but surely begin to stack back up, reminding him of the so-called foolish decision he’d made. Genji’s not angry at him, not really, but he almost wishes he was, instead of him holding onto his hand and weeping the way he is. Still, he clears his throat and opens his mouth to explain himself.

But then Doctor Zeigler walks in with a clipboard in her hands, shortly followed by the legendary Ana Amari. The blonde asks him questions and informs him of his predicament, but he really stops listening after he gets the information he wanted.  _ Hypothermia,  _ he caught between hurried words, and nearly barks out a laugh. After all those years of surviving through hell, wouldn’t it have been funny if something as simple as that was what took him out?

He’s horrified, though, at the notion that he’d been sitting in the medical bay rendered absolutely useless for an entire week. If his little stunt hadn’t killed him then surely Winston would. He thought the guilt of having kept Genji sitting next to him for so long was bad, but bailing on all the work he was supposed to be doing felt even worse. 

Only when Angela has to practically drag Genji out of the room and into his own does he realize how late, or technically how  _ early,  _ in the morning it was. The cyborg didn’t want to leave, Hanzo had only just awoken, but Angela managed to convince him that the man in question still needed more rest and would be returning to his slumber, shooting him a glare that dared him to say otherwise. 

He wanted to snicker at the scene (Genji always did have that effect on him), but he was acutely aware that there was still another person in the room. Ana stood over him with her hands clenched into fists and her brows furrowed. He stared at her hung head, waiting for her to gather her thoughts then say what she came to say.

“...Although I don’t approve of and am not happy with what you did,” she starts softly, though his eyebrows had already shot into his hairline. She wasn’t? “You saved my daughter’s life, and I thank you for that. Just try to be less self-sacrificial in the future, assuming Fareeha follows the same advice.”

Hanzo watched her retreating form, then chuckled the moment the room’s door shut behind her. How curious, it was, that she had stayed up waiting for him to awaken just to tell him that. Though he can’t imagine that any agent in their little group of misfits has an actual sleeping schedule, especially not one of the war veterans. 

It surprises him how easily sleep comes for him despite how long he’s been unconscious, but not nearly as much as waking up to finding his room cramped by nearly everyone on base.

Well, not really. There’s only four other people in the room. “Hanzo!” Hana exclaims upon seeing his wide eyes. She throws her arms around his shoulders, uncaring of the reprimand Genji calls out to her. “What the hell, old man! I let you go on one mission without me and you almost die? I didn’t realize you needed a babysitter!”

Despite herself, Satya covers her mouth with the back of her hand and snickers at the scene unfolding before her. Though, she does turn and fix Hanzo with a glare immediately after. “I was not there but they informed me of what you did. I am only here to tell you that it was absolutely ridiculous and stupid.”

“Of course,” Hana interjects. “Not because you were worried about him or anything.”

“No,” Satya lies poorly, casually flipping the page in the book she held.

Jesse chuckles from the corner of the room, uncrossing his arms and tipping his ridiculous cowboy hat while shaking his head in amusement. “Regardless, you gave us all quite a scare there,” he addresses, though the softer smile he adorns is possibly the kindest thing Hanzo’s received since he’d woken up. “‘Sgood to see you awake again, partner.”

Hanzo is so terribly confused he can’t manage to utter a single syllable. SInce when did anyone on this base stand him? And when did McCree start calling him “partner,” and Hana start calling him “old man?” How long has Satya viewed him as more than a work acquaintance? And why won’t his brother stop laughing at his bewildered expression?

Actually, nevermind that last one, he knows its answer. Genji Shimada is a little shit. 

His laughter comes to an abrupt halt as the room’s door slides open, revealing Fareeha Amari on the other side. As if on cue, everyone in the room collects themselves and begins to leave, though only Genji spared him an excuse, claiming that he will get something for them to eat, regardless of whether Hanzo was hungry or not. 

In a matter of seconds, it’s just him and the Helix soldier in the room. Fareeha grabs the chair Satya had previously been sitting on and turns it around, taking a seat and leaning her crossed arms on its back. She’s staring at him, almost  _ through  _ him, and he can’t quite find it in himself to break the tense silence first. 

“Why’d you do it?”

Hanzo blinks at the unexpected question. “Pardon?”

Fareeha raises an eyebrow. “I asked: Why’d you do it? Why’d you put your neck out for me?” She clarifies, tilting her head in a manner more curious than unkind. “I don’t like you. You  _ know  _ I don’t like you. So why would you put yourself on the line like that to save my life?”

The archer almost doesn’t believe that she’s actually asking him that question. He looks back into her eyes, trying to gauge out whether this was some sort of test or another. Yet he found her completely serious. “Just because you do not like me,” he responds incredulously, “doesn’t mean I would leave you to die.”

“Why’s that?” She readily counters. “I would have, if you were me.”

“And I would have deserved it,” he shrugs simply.

Though, that’s what seems to take her by surprise. Her shoulders drop, as does her lower jaw, and her lips part and form a surprised ‘o’ shape. She blinks at him, genuinely shocked by his answer, then furrows her brows and purses her lips, looking away for a moment. She seems to be lost in thought.

Despite her contemplative look, she gets up and sternly announces: “I disagree.” 

Now he’s the one staring at her in disbelief. She gives him an almost cocky smirk that abruptly fades into a much softer smile and quickly turns on her heel, leaving the room. Hanzo’s brows furrow as he stares at the chair where she once sat, lips pressed in a flat line as he wracks his brain to make sense of the interaction that had just happened.

Why did she look like she knew something he didn’t?


End file.
